Darkest Eternity
by ruumpleteazah
Summary: After going through life over and over again because of Xion's curse, Riku just wants it all to end. But Xion is definitely not through with him yet. Despite all odds, will Riku finally win against the murderous fate she has in store for him? AU, sequel.
1. Prologue: Reality

**I'm BAAAAAACK! XD Hello all, I'm Anais (formerly known as Oerba Dia Lukia), and welcome to my sequel to When the Cicadas Cry, Darkest Eternity! * applause* **If you're new and you haven't read my first fic I reccomend you do - if you start with this fic now you'll be hopeless confused XD For those of you who read WTCC, **I know its been a while, but with the Japanese release of KH: Dream Drop Distance yesterday, I've been on a Kingdom Hearts hype and I just HAD to get this story on paper! Our main narrator is... RIKU! Yay! I love writing as him... he's just so awesome, especially since now we get to see inside his head about what happened between him and Xion!**

**This sequel is special because I'm going to be alternating back and forth between present-day March and the past during the time before and after Xion and Aqua's death. The past-themed chapters will include even more of our favorite Kingdom Hearts characters, including Ventus, Terra, and Vanitas~ This way I'll be developing Xion and Riku's relationship and just what it REALLY was that made her snap.**

**Anyway, I'm glad to be back in the world of KH, and as a final note - ENJOY!**

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><p><em>Ever on and on I continue circling<em>_  
><em>_With nothing but my hate in a carousel of agony__  
><em>_Till slowly I forget and my heart starts vanishing__  
><em>_And suddenly I see that I can't break free-I'm__  
><em>_Slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity__  
><em>_With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony__  
><em>_To tell me who I am, who I was__  
><em>_Uncertainty enveloping my mind__  
><em>_Till I can't break free, and_

_Maybe it's a dream; maybe nothing else is real__  
><em>_But it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel__  
><em>_So I'm tired of all the pain, of the misery inside__  
><em>_And I wish that I could live feeling nothing but the night__  
><em>_You can tell me what to say; you can tell me where to go__  
><em>_But I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know__  
><em>_If I make another move there'll be no more turning back__  
><em>_Because everything will change, and it all will fade to black_

_Will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it through the night?__  
><em>_Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light?__  
><em>_Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay, or should I go?__  
><em>_I've forgotten how to tell. Did I ever even know?__  
><em>_Can I take another step? I've done everything I can__  
><em>_All the people that I see I will never understand__  
><em>_If I find a way to change, if I step into the light__  
><em>_Then I'll never be the same, and it all will fade to white_

_~ Touhou Project, "Bad Apple!",__ ValliereVee's English lyrics_

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><p><em>~Prologue: Reality~<em>

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><p><em>~Unknown time, Unknown place~<em>

Riku could feel the heat of her breath on his neck as his laid on his stomach on the warm, bloody sheets. Her tongue snaked out, licking his ear, and he cringed. What was he thinking, believing he was safe from his dead, malicious former girlfriend this one time? The cold blade was pressing deeper into his neck and he tried not to swallow, _tried_ not to turn his head and stare into her demented eyes—

"You _love_ me, Riku," the dark-haired girl taunted in his ear, "Don't you, don't you…?"

His heart started to race and he could feel the chills going down his whole body. If he told her the truth – which was yes – would she spare his life? Would he be able to stay in this world, just once be able to not die and return again someplace new and unfamiliar, just to have to go through all the blood, gore, and hatred of death again?

"Y-Yes," Riku stammered, his eyes closing in preparation for his fate. "I only love you, darling. Only you."

"You're lying to me, Riku!" She screamed, pushing the cleaver farther. Riku choked on the warm, sticky blood rising from his throat, the gurgling sound he made making him feel sick. This was what this was all about, wasn't it? Lies. The lies they all had faced the time before, during, and even after the twins' death fifty years ago. Terra, Aqua, Ventus, and even Riku himself, but the murderous girl trying to kill him now had gotten the worst end of it.

"I'm sorry… so s-sorry…"

"Is that all you know how to say, Riku? 'I'm sorry'?" She whispered quickly in his ear with a crazy giggle at the end of her question. "You were sorry when you so-called 'had to' leave me. You were sorry when I died. You were sorry for all those deaths, all those deaths_ I_ caused… but you know this all could have been avoided. Had you just stayed with me, had my sister had just accepted her sin, her sin of always pushing me aside, being the best in everything… if you look at it that way, this isn't my fault. It's not only Aqua's fault…"

Riku let himself relax, waiting for her to finish her sentence. He wasn't sorry because of his girlfriend's actions, or what she had been through…he was sorry because she hadn't had the willpower to overcome this fate of murder, of killing, because of those actions.

And when he thought about it, maybe it really _was_ his fault…

"… but also yours. Goodbye, Riku."

And Xion, the girl silver-haired Riku had loved for so long, slit his throat.

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><p><em>~Monday, March 5<em>_th__, Riku's Apartment, 6:27 a.m.~_

"Gah!"

Riku bolted upright in bed, his hand at his throat, his breath coming out in short gasps. _That dream, it felt so real… _he thought as he pulled away his hand from his neck – it came away clean, reassuring the fact that his dream was another one of the nightmares he had been having lately, and not that Xion had killed him and sent him to another place. Normally Xion wouldn't intrude on his dreams, but recently she'd been showing up more and more… as the 'Ides of March' Xion had mentioned in her note drew closer and closer.

Riku sighed and swung his legs over the bed, realizing that, yes, it was March. He hadn't done any research on what the 'Ides of March' meant since he'd received the note last November. Mostly because he was too lazy and too scared to look it up. He got up and flung open the window curtains by his desk, letting morning sunrise stream into the dark room; school didn't start until seven-thirty, so he had a while to do some research.

His laptop warmed up quickly when he turned it on, as he sat down at his desk, his fingers moving rapidly back and forth between the mouse and keyboard as he typed 'Ides of March' in a Internet search engine. He brushed his unkempt, sleep-tousled hair out of his eyes as he clicked on the first result.

The website said that the 'Ides of March' were the fifteenth day of March, and were generally a festive day honor a god a long time ago. Riku groaned inwardly. Today was the fifth of March, so that meant he had ten days to figure out what Xion's plan was and how to save Roxas and Sora from the malignant ghost of his beloved. "Great," Riku mumbled sarcastically. Roxas still had the necklace that Xion possessed, but it hadn't seemed to have much of an effect on him for the last few months, as Riku had seen… but in the past five days, Riku had seen a change in the normally bubbly teenager. He mentally cursed himself for waiting so long to focus on researching what Xion's note meant. _Those months wasted… maybe if I hadn't blown off the fact that Roxas wasn't showing any signs of ghostly possession, I might have had a better chance at beating Xion this time._

He kept reading; the Ides of March also involved the murder of a historic general on that day, in which a fortune-teller had warned the general of his death. However, the seer was ignored and the general was killed by stabbing attacks. _So that was why Xion chose March fifteenth,_ Riku pondered. _It was the day someone was killed…_ He shook his head with a smile. _Oh Xion, clever as always._

He closed his laptop and, putting his chin on his hands and gazing out the window, his eyes traveled over the parking lot of his apartment, the myriad houses and palm trees strewn among the coast of the Destiny Island, and, far in the distance, the ocean, lit up brightly by the rising sun. Riku felt the warmth on his face and smiled. This feeling – of happiness, of peace – reminded him of the times before Xion had gone crazy, before she had killed her sister and so many others. It reminded him of the day he had met Xion. She was such as bright, cheerful girl then always smiling or laughing…

He wished he could go back to that day…

Before his dreams – his nightmares – became reality.

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><p><strong>Reviews are appreciated!<strong>

**~Anais**


	2. Seashells and Xion

**Here's chapter one, our first chapter that takes us to Riku's first life and his experiences with Xion~~ I'm so excited about this fic I had to get this chapter up TODAY! XD Enjoy!**_  
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><p><em>~Chapter One: Seashells and Xion~<em>

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><p><em>~Wednesday, July 13<em>_th__, 1 year and 3 months before Xion's death, Destiny Islands – Thalassa Beachfront, 6:27 p.m.~_

"Heeeeey! Riiikuuuu!"

Riku Kagayami looked up from waggling his bare toes in the cool evening waves. There he saw Ventus Kazekami, one of his best friends, running down the beach with his shorts almost falling off of him and his sandals kicking up sand in his wake. The silver-haired teen smirked. Ventus sure had taken a while to show up. It was nearly dusk, with the sun setting rapidly over the horizon, and Riku could only wonder what he had been doing for the past few hours. He pulled his toes out of the ocean just as Ventus collapsed beside him.

"Sorry… 'bout that," the blond, spiky-haired boy panted, "I was just showing those new girls around the island… man, I'm tired." He took a few deep breaths and gave a smile at Riku.

Riku smiled back, tracing patterns in the sand in front of him. "It's okay, Ven. What're those girls' names again?" There was a big commotion when the new family had moved to the island a few days ago; mostly because the island was small. The population barely capped one-thousand. Since it was summer vacation, however, Riku wouldn't have seen them every day at school since they had came.

Ventus replied, "Xion and Aqua Satsujin. And get this, man—" He poked Riku, drawing his attention back to him again, "— they're _really_ hot twins. Like _smokin' _hot."

Riku groaned good-naturedly, sighing and shaking his head. "Come on, Ven, can you keep your mind off of a girl's looks for two seconds?"

"I'm not kidding!" Ventus stood up, crossing his arms and grinning at Riku. "I'll go get them, and you'll see!" He took off down the beach, the same way he had come, leaving Riku alone again.

Looking out at the waning sunset, Riku could only shake his head again. He'd been friends with Ventus for years – since elementary school even. Now they were both fifteen and going to start their first year of high school in August. And Ventus never changed a bit from being the flirtatious player than he was – and also very picky. _He doesn't just go for any girl,_ Riku thought with an inward sigh. _He wants to have his cake and eat it too. _Riku started his drawing in the sand again; he thought it looked pretty nice.

"Riiiiikuuuuu! I'm baaaaack!"

"Well, hurry up then!" Riku shouted back to Ventus, wiping away his drawing messily and standing. Ventus stopped with the twin girls a few feet away from Riku.

"This is Xion," he motioned to a skinny, dark-haired girl with bright blue eyes, about the same age as him, who smiled at Riku, "and Aqua." The other girl had short blue hair and was slightly taller than her twin. Riku could only wonder which of the girls had dyed their hair.

The girl named Aqua pointed back toward the mainland. "We moved here from the Land of Departure, and we live on that mansion by the coast. It'd be nice if you could visit sometime, it's kind of lonely with just the two of us," she finished with a nervous giggle.

"I would like that," Riku replied, his eyes straying to Xion. Her gaze was locked on the sand as she traced a flower in it with her sneaker. "Fascinated by the sand, huh?"

Xion's head snapped up, her face as red as a tomato, as the evening wind played a stand of hair across her face. "Uh, I guess. I mean, it's not like there are beaches where we come from, so, um, I guess, yeah…" She started wringing her hands nervously in her lap and Riku chuckled.

There was a little bit of silence after that. Aqua abruptly grabbed Ventus's hand and started off with him. "C'mon, Ven, you haven't shown me your house yet….! Wanna come, Shi?" The bluenette said to her twin.

Xion shook her head and sat down on the sand. "Nah. I wanna watch the sunset. Meet me back here?"

Aqua only nodded and proceeded to drag Ventus down the shoreline, despite the latter's joking protests. Riku saluted his friend jokingly – Ventus stuck out his tongue at him – and sat down a few feet from Xion. He gazed at her features as she stared at the flower she'd drawn earlier. Bright blue eyes full of happiness, rose-colored cheeks that contrasted with her cropped raven hair…

"So… it's Xion, right?" Riku offered as way of conversation.

She looked up at him, a smile gracing her lips. "Yeah. You're Riku, right?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out," he replied with a smirk.

Xion giggled. "Your friend…. sure is energetic. We haven't even gotten time to settle in and he's ready to drag us everywhere."

"Well, that's Ventus for you." He leaned back on the warm, grainy sand, lifting his head just a bit to gaze at the sunset. _So she's from the Land of Departure, huh? Wonder what that's like._ "You said you didn't have beaches where you're from?"

"We had beaches on the lakes, but they weren't very big. And…" She sighed. "The sunsets weren't nearly as beautiful. Look out there." Xion poked Riku, and she glanced at him briefly before pointing to the horizon. "See how the red and orange refracts across the water and makes it a little pink to go along with the blue? And they way the waves crash up against the rocks, as if they're doing a dance…"

Riku gazed at each feature of the evening as she pointed them out. How observant Xion was, paying attention to every little detail. Riku could only wonder how she was able to examine every nook and cranny of nature as if she'd been doing it all her life. He never had time for that. He just kind of… _lived._ Never worrying about the little things… he wondered for a second if Xion had chosen to stay and watch the sunset because she wanted to share it with somebody, somebody who was a good listener.

If nothing else, Riku knew how to listen.

"… and see, even the little crabs. How their footprints make those patterns… it's just amazing. Don't you think, Riku?"

Riku nodded, sitting up and propping himself on his elbows. "Yeah. I've never seen the world this way, Xion. Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me, seriously!" Xion said, giving him a playful push, starting to laugh.

Riku laughed quietly to himself, shrugging off her push. _Xion's a cool girl. Friendly, definitely nice, a bit modest… I wouldn't say 'hot' as Ven put it, but anyways… I hope she stays for the next school year._

"Xion?"

"Hm?" She looked at him, a questioning look in her eyes.

"Why'd you move?"

"Oh." Her face fell just a little. "Some stuff happened and… our house kind of burned down a few months ago. It was an accident, and nobody really knows who caused it…"

Riku's brow furrowed; something was a little fishy. "If your house burned down a few months ago then why are you just moving?"

"Our family had to go in for grief counseling," she said quickly. "We'd lost a few family members in the fire, and a whole lot of our stuff." Xion's gaze started to become glassy, and tears formed at the edge of her eyes. "We didn't really want to start a new life until we were sure we were ready."

"That's understandable," Riku said, pulling her into a sideways hug. "I'm sure that incident really brought your family together, huh?"

Xion's eyes brightened as she looked up at Riku. "You know what? It did." She wiped away the tears at the edges of her eyes, and Riku couldn't help but grin.

Xion frowned. "What?"

"I didn't want you crying on my watch. Who knows what your sister would do to me," he joked, letting her go with a soft pat of her back.

Xion laughed nervously, reaching out to the ocean and letting the cool waves brush her fingertips. "Nah, Aqua's a sweetheart. She would never get onto you about anything."

"I'm glad to hear that." Riku started to trace the flower drawing of Xion's before the waves stole it away. Xion looked back at him and down at the drawing, shrugging before getting up and rolling up her shorts.

"Xion…" Riku raised an eyebrow at her before it clicked with him. She wanted to get in the water. Riku clicked his tongue, taking out a hair elastic from his pocket and pulling his long hair back into a messy ponytail. It was a nice evening, so why not have some fun in the water?_ Before I know it, it'll be school starting again… I might as well enjoy this..._

Before Riku could even get up onto his feet and roll up his jeans, Xion had grabbed him and dragged him into the water, his feet turning ice cold as his body got used to the temperature of the ocean. _She's dragging me out pretty far, _he thought as the water reached his waist; the two stopped when the water was at his chest.

Riku could stand in the water, but Xion had to wade to keep afloat. "I wanna look for seashells!" she said happily, "Are there any around here?"

At that, Riku reached down under the water, his hearing dulled as he submerged under the waves. His hand felt for a Thalassa shell, and when he found one, with its rough edges, he surfaced and shook his hair out, handing the bright pink shell to Xion. "You've come to the right place."

The bright look on her face made Riku's heart soar; no other expression would have made him happier.

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><p><em>~Wednesday, July 13<em>_th__, 1 year and 3 months before Xion's death, Destiny Islands – Thalassa Beachfront, 7:07 p.m.~_

Xion dragged her armfuls of shells up onto the beach, dumping them onto the sand as soon as she reached dry land. Riku followed close behind, glad they had gotten out of the water before the sky had turned dark. He was sopping wet, his hair limp on his back, and he was tired from searching for shells for Xion – it wasn't like he wanted any, he had plenty at home. Nevertheless, Riku had to admit it was fun, especially the excitement they had splashing at each other. School started in a month, and he was going to use this summer break to the fullest. _But next time, I'm bringing Vento have _him _look for shells,_ he thought with a smirk, _And Xion loves to take her time… Ven's gonna be tortured._

"Aaaaah, I'm beat." Xion collapsed on the sand with a smile at Riku. Riku smiled back and looked up when he heard footsteps; there were Ventus and Aqua, running down the beach to meet them.

He gaze traveled back to her blanched face. "You had fun, Xion?" Riku asked, as the darkness settled over the beach.

Xion nodded, too tired to reply, as Aqua appeared, grabbed her twin by her arm, and hauled her up. "Come on, lazybones, we've gotta get home."

"'Kay!" Xion gathered her shells with some effort, and before walking away with Aqua, she smiled at Riku. "See you later, it was nice meeting you!"

"See ya." Riku nodded as she went to join her sister, and he watched them walk away until they were just two little dots on the horizon. _Hope to see you tomorrow._

"Sooooo?" Ventus said, clasping a hand around Riku's shoulder. He staggered, glaring at his bubbly friend.

"What, Ven?"

"Is she, like, the most attractive thing alive?" Ventus smiled.

Riku stared at him. Ventus stared back, the smile never leaving his face. With a good-hearted groan and a shaking of his head, Riku turned started off down the beach. Was Ventus serious? After all he had shared with Xion, and what Xion had shared with him, _that_ was all he could ask? "Whatever you want to believe, Ven."

"W-Wait! Is that a yes or a no?" Riku heard Ventus take off after him down the shoreline. "Riku! I want an answer!"

Riku burst into peals of laughter as the wind played across his face. _Ven will never learn, will he?_

"Riku! Pleeeeease?"

_Nope. Never._

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><p><strong>Reviews are appreciated! Next chapter it's back to the present!<strong>

**~Anais**_  
><em>


	3. Uncertainty and Misery

**I'm spitting out chapters like mad. LIKE MAD, I TELL YOU! XD Anways, here's chapter two and our mystery guest...! Enjoy!**_  
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><p><em>~Chapter Two: Uncertainty and Misery~<em>

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><p><em>~Monday, March 5<em>_th__, Destiny Islands High School, First-year class 13B, 7:07 a.m.~_

Riku opened the classroom door with a squeak, his ears popping at the loud noise of pre-first period Monday morning chatter as compared to the quiet of the hallway. He adjusted his backpack and started to the back of the room toward his regular seat, but then his skin prickled when he passed Roxas, who was sitting in the desk chair nearest the door. Riku froze, backing up slowly and soon he stood over Roxas, his hands on the wood of Roxas's desk.

"Roxas, you okay?"

The blonde looked up at him, the circles under his eyes prominent in the overhead florescent lights. His gaze was a void of emptiness, no feeling or energy at all in his piercing stare. His hair was a mess, its normally spiky stature slightly limp. Riku inwardly groaned. Roxas looked horrible. It had only been five days since the beginning of March and Xion had already begun to inflict signs of wear and tear on her host's appearance. _This time,_ Riku thought, _I'm not gonna let Xion break Roxas's spirit._ Briefly he thought back to when she had tried to kill Roxas through Kairi; he shrugged the thought off as he waited for Roxas's answer.

Roxas sighed in part of his response. "I… I don't know, Riku. It's like…" He gritted his teeth in agony. "Whenever I look at Sora, I can't help but feel like I hate his guts. I'm seeing all the things I've never seen before in my brother – how much smarter his is than me, how he has more friends, how he always seems to be so much more elevated than me – I'm starting to get sick of it. It's just I've never noticed these things about Sora before, everything that's wrong with him…" He gripped Xion's necklace that dangled from his neck, as it glinted in the light. "I don't know if I can trust him anymore. I hear this girl in my head, Riku… And she tells me all these things about him. And I believe her, it's like I can't _not _believe her, and I don't—"

"Roxas." Riku put a hand on the boy; he was shaking so hard Riku could feel the tremors going up his arm. _I'll try the direct approach._ "Do you think the voice you hear is coming from your necklace…?"

"No." Roxas grunted, slapping Riku's hand away. "And don't you even think about touching it, either. It's the only way I can be close to Na-Naminè…"

Riku winced. He wished he could tell him who the necklace really belonged to… but that would send Roxas into a state of panic and he definitely didn't want that.

"Did you_ hear_ me, Riku?"

"Y-Yeah." Riku stuttered at Roxas's abrupt, harsh tone; Roxas sighed.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Riku. I just don't know what's going on with me lately. I think… I think I might need some help… you're smart, right?" Roxas looked at him, pleadingly; Riku nodded, wondering what he was getting on to.

Roxas reached into his bag and reappeared at the desk with a pen and notecard. "Could… you write your number down for me? In case things ever start to get… weird?"

Riku didn't hesitate when he scribbled the digits; maybe Roxas _was _onto something. Roxas, somehow, wasn't letting Xion mar his sense of reason because he knew something was wrong with him. If Roxas were to catch himself in the act of doing something crazy and he were to call Riku… _Things just might work out._

"Your… your parents won't pick up when I call or anything, right?"

Riku stifled a chuckle at the question; his parents had been dead for years. "I'll make sure to get to the phone first."

Roxas smiled wanly, seeming happier already. "Thank you, Riku."

"No problem." Riku gave Roxas a warm pat on the back before heading back the direction he intended; at least he had tabs on Roxas's actions now. Maybe he could help Roxas before Sora noticed anything. Riku glanced at the spiky, brown-haired teen across the room laughing with a few other friends. _I'll keep him in the dark until I absolutely have to tell him… prayful he doesn't reject my claim like last time._

Now that that ordeal was over, Riku only had to get into his seat before a certain redheaded girl decided to show up and tackle him—

"Rikuuuuu! Knight-samaaaaa!"

—Shiki Misaki.

Riku stumbled when he felt a huge force grab onto him from behind; he was glad he had his bookbag on, or else he would have fallen over.

"How was your weekend?" Shiki chirped in his ear, peeking around his shoulder and smiling at him, her chocolate-colored hat strewn with pins framing her light brown eyes. Her stuffed black cat, Mr. Mew, appeared next to her jovial face; Riku flinched and backed up. He _wished_ Sora had never told Shiki – who had moved here from Traverse Town with her friend Joshua, who was in the other first-year class—about how Riku saved him from demented Kairi. Shiki, amazed by his prowess, gave him the affectionate name, 'Knight-sama'.

He wished, but his wishes never came true.

As Shiki giggled, Riku rolled his eyes and replied, "It was fine, Shiki. Yours?"

"It was wonderful!" She squealed, twirling around with Mr. Mew in her arms, her red-orange hair illuminating the air. Riku twitched. The girl was fifteen years old, for crying out loud; what did she need to bring her stuffed animal to school for?

"Shiki?"

"Hmm?" She stopped twirling and held the cat between her folded arms.

"I never got around to asking… why do you carry around that stuffed cat?"

"Because he's not just a regular cat, he can turn into a super awesome beast!" Shiki cried, stroking Mr. Mew's velvet fur.

Riku sighed, punching her arm affectionately as he walked to the back of the room and plopped in his desk chair, Shiki taking the seat beside him and cooing at her cat. He glanced at the clock on the wall; it read seven twenty-five. Five more minutes of boring loudness until he moved on to the boring school day and went on to take a boring nap before he did his boring homework and went to bed, still bored.

Riku had a boring life.

He sighed for probably the fifteenth time that day, staring at the back of Roxas's head from his vantage point in the back of the room. The normally bubbly teen was sulking, gripping Xion's necklace and muttering to himself. He hoped Roxas wouldn't die. He hoped nobody would die. Roxas was similar to his old friend Ventus, in a way. He wondered how Ven was doing now, wherever he was in the afterlife… Riku hoped there was an afterlife…

"You worried about Roxas, too?"

Riku glanced at the seat on the other side of him that Shiki wasn't occupying; there was Sora, not to his surprise, staring at his twin with the same worried expression Riku had.

"Yeah." Riku said, nonchalantly.

"I mean…" Sora shook his head. "Since the beginning of March, he's just been so withdrawn from everyone – especially me. I wish I could talk to him about it, but he just won't let me near him." He started tracing patterns on his desk. "It kinda makes me sad. He's my bro, he shouldn't be like this."

"Hmmm… Sora?"

"Yeah?"

Riku was taking a huge risk here, but he continued anyway. "If I told you that Roxas was going through the same thing Kairi went through, would you believe me?"

Sora visibly winced at the mention of the dead girl's name, but he toughened up and faced Riku with a hard look on his face. "Whatever Rox is going through – and don't tell me its possession or I'll have to slap you – I think I would have to believe you if you told me. I wanna help Roxas."

Riku sighed for the sixteenth time that day, muttering under his breath, "Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to get slapped then."

"What?"

Riku waved Sora away with his hand. "Nothing. Forget I asked." _When the time is right, Riku._

_When the time is right, I'll tell him everything._

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><p><strong>Aaaaah! Shiki was sooooo fun to write! I've never played The World Ends With You so I have NO idea how she acts outside of her personality in the KH: 3D Jump Festa 2012 trailer... I hope I didn't ruin her... (P.S. I got the nickname 'Knight-sama' from the trailer too :3)<strong>

**Reviews are appreciated!**

**~Anais**


	4. Promise Me This

**Our next past chapter is here! There is lots of Riku and Xion fluff in this chapter, so be warned - but the chapter is important for the rest of the fic, so keep reading! Enjoy!**

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><p><em>~Tuesday, November 1<em>_st__, 11 months before Xion's death— Kagayami residence, Riku's room, 2:24 a.m.~_

_Riiiiiiing! Riiiiiiiiing!_

Riku groaned when the sound of the phone woke him up from his sleep. Who in their right mind would even _think_, let alone try, to call him at two o'clock in the morning? He could only think of one person that would: Xion, his two-months girlfriend. About something stupid. But, being the good person that he was, he felt obliged to answer it. Lazily, before his parents woke up, Riku stuck his hand out from under the covers and grabbed the phone off its cradle, putting it up to his ear while still relishing in the comfort of the dark tunnel of his sheets.

"'Ello?"

"Oh, Riku, thank you for answering!" Xion cried on the other end, her voice squeaky and cracking from what Riku thought was crying. "I didn't know… who else to call…"

"Baby, what's goin' on?" Riku asked, turning onto his back and letting the phone dangle by his ear.

"You know," she sniffed, "you know our performance of _The Nutcracker_ is coming up, right?"

"Yeah." Of course he knew, because that was all she talked about. Xion loved ballet, and so did Aqua, but Xion wanted the role of the main dancer in their Christmas production more than anything. Suddenly he realized what she was calling about.

"And, you know how the lead dancers get their parts announced first?"

"Uh-huh."

"Aqua announced last night she got the role of Clara!" Xion shouted into the phone, her cries loud and clear. Riku pushed the phone away from his ear to save his hearing. "And I worked really really hard to try and get the part! Just because Madame said I'm not strong on _pointe_…"

"Xion, it's alright," Riku cooed into the phone. He hated hearing her like this, so sad and melancholy. "Surely you got another role just as good—"

"Argh! I just hate her so much!" Xion interjected, her cries slowly turning into angry shouts.

"You mean your teacher?" Riku was starting to come awake; he sat up and flipped on his bedside lamp.

"No, Aqua! She's always so much better than me, in everything," Xion replied harshly. "Sometimes I wish I could just wipe her off the face of planet and claim the rightful spot that I deserve as the best and only—"

Riku cut her off. "Don't say things like that, Xion. Aqua would do anything for you. She loves you with all her heart; I've seen it in how she acts toward you. She even helped you with your dancing so that you could try to get the role. I don't think Aqua would want to hear you talk so bad about her when she's only trying to do the best for you. It's not Aqua's fault that she got the role. If you are to be mad at anyone, be mad at your teacher. Not your sister."

Xion sniffed again and Riku could hear a bit of happiness in her voice. "Yeah… I guess you're right…"

"So you're gonna go out there and do your best, no matter which role you get?"

"Yes. I will!" She giggled. "Thank you, Riku."

"No problem. Now get some sleep." Riku started to hang the phone up but he heard Xion's voice again.

"Hey, Riku?"

"Hmm?" He mumbled, fingering with a loose strand of thread on his bedsheet.

"You're still picking me up today for ballet practice?"

"Of course." Riku turned off the light and lay back down in his bed; now he was gonna have to function today with less sleep.

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." Setting the phone on the cradle, Riku turned back over onto his stomach, letting his long silver hair fan out over the pillow like a peacock's feathers. Xion was becoming increasingly more emotional as the date of the ballet production grew closer. He figured it was just nerves, and it would all blow over after the performance at the end of the month. But Riku had also noticed how his girlfriend had started to place a lot of her problems on Aqua, no matter what it was. But maybe girls were just like that. He'd never had a girlfriend before, so he didn't know…

Letting his thoughts turn back into dreams, Riku slowly succumbed to sleep again.

* * *

><p><em>~Tuesday, November 1<em>_st__, 11 months before Xion's death – Shirakawa School of Ballet, 6:55 p.m.~_

Putting the car in park, Riku sighed and leaned back in his seat, gazing up at the ballet studio, with its weathered wood and single large window in the front. He looked at all the girls, their grace and poise as they stood _en pointe_, not moving a muscle, almost frozen in time at the ballet _barre_. He knew Xion was that beautiful when she danced, not matter how much she didn't believe it. Then he heard Xion trying to yank open the car door roughly; with another sigh, he unlocked the door and she practically flew out of her seat, bouncing up and down with excitement on the asphalt parking spot next to her.

"C'mon, Riku, let's go! It's cold, class starts in twenty minutes, and I wanna see what part I got!"

Riku motioned for her to meet him on the sidewalk in front of the building, and she did as told as Riku got out on the driver's side and walked up to meet her. He pulled up his jacket on his shoulders and shivered. It was cold, and Xion was probably a Popsicle by now, only wearing a light jacket over her black leotard and pink tights. She grabbed him by his arm and dragged him up the sidewalk, up the steps, and into the wood-warmed lobby of the ballet studio.

The first thing Riku registered was noise. Save for the classical music playing from the dance room by the door and the other room to the left he had been looking in earlier, all Riku heard was the excited chatter of little girls, from very young to high school, crowded around a list posted on a bulletin board by the dressing room. The crowd was so thick that Riku thought he might drown if he got in too deep. He looked down to ask Xion if she wanted to wait out the crowd, but she had already starting elbowing her way in.

Riku chuckled and shook his head. _Girls._

"Hey, Riku, welcome to the club!"

The silverette looked left, seeing none other than Ventus sprawled out in one of the lobby chairs. Accompanying him was his dark-haired twin, Vanitas, that sat across from him with a smirk on his face, and Terra Chikyuu, who sat next to Ventus, studying his fingernails like they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Riku took the plush chair next to Vanitas, smiling. "What club?"

Brown-haired Terra sighed. "The my-girlfriend-just-dumped-me-to-go-do-other-girly-things club…"

Ventus kept the chain going, "Or the this-place-totally-ruins-my-masculinity club…"

"Or the I-just-wanted-to-check-out-all-the-hot-girls club." Vanitas finished with a smirk and he blew a kiss at some unsuspecting ladies going into the dressing room; they squealed and Riku rolled his eyes.

"_Seriously_, guys?"

The Riku's other friends collectively stared at Riku and replied, "Yep."

"I can't _believe_ it!" Came Xion's angry shout. Her _pointe _shoes were untied on her feet and when she sat down next to Riku she started lacing them around her ankles. "I _always_ get the worst parts!"

"What'd you get, cutie?" Vanitas taunted, leaning forward.

Xion threw a glare at him before saying to Riku, "I'm a Party Child, a Soldier Captain, a Candy Cane, and a Flower. _Again!_" She finished lacing her shoes and threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "They could at least give me some variety, like, oh, I don't know, being in the Russian dance or being a Snowflake, at least! But noooo… these were the _same_ parts I had doing _The Nutcracker_ in the Land of Departure…" She sighed. "I don't get it."

"At least you won't have to practice as much since you know the steps so well," Ventus offered.

Xion took this moment to glare at him as well. "So what? If I had only gotten Clara…"

"And here come the waterworks," Terra interjected with a smile at Xion.

Riku leered at Terra. He wished he hadn't said that. Knowing Xion…

The raven-haired girl got up and, with the hard toe of her ballet shoe, kicked Terra in the shin. "I_ really_ didn't need that right now."

"Can't you take a joke, Shi?" Terra said, rubbing his bruised shin. Xion kicked him again – this time in the stomach – for good measure and then stalked off to the dressing room with her hands in fists. Terra doubled over and slowly raised his gaze to meet Riku's.

"Sorry about that, Riku. I was just kidding…"

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Riku replied; just because Xion was his girlfriend didn't mean he was going to go in a rampage about how mean Terra was, how he shouldn't have done that, how Xion was _his_ girlfriend and he had no right to treat her that way… Riku wasn't like that. He probably never would be. "Go apologize to Xion. She's the one you hurt."

Terra straightened and nodded, leaving to go catch up with Xion before she went into the dressing room, and for a good while there was silence between the remaining three boys. The crowd at the bulletin board slowly dispersed as the girls began to trickle in to the dressing room in preparation for the seven-fifteen Beginning Pointe class – Xion and Aqua's class. Riku sighed as the lobby's quiet became deafening, only being broken when Terra came back and flopped into his chair. Terra _was _just making a joke… but he knew that Xion was already having a bad day and he could have at least tried to see that. And considering that Terra was Aqua's boyfriend, Xion must have felt like the duo was out to get her. Riku hoped she could be strong and move past the little incident.

The girls came out of the dressing room and went into the studio across the hallway, and that was when Riku stood up and went to the built-in window that overlooked the expanse of the bright studio. Among the girls at the _barre_, the twins were in their normal places: Xion was on the side of the room nearest the window facing outside and Aqua on the _barre_ by the wall. Riku rested his chin on his hands and watched as they warmed up with stretches, his eyes on Xion the entire time. She was graceful, more graceful than he would ever be if he danced ballet. He closed his eyes as time passed but they snapped open again when the teacher announced, loudly, that it was time to start practice for _The Nutcracker_ and she would go over the steps only once for the lesser parts; he winced. Even though the studio door was open and the teacher was all the way across the room, he could hear her as clear as if she were standing right next to him.

The music started, that familiar tune that everybody who had ever seen anything Christmas related knew. They were dancing the party scene, when the Party Children and Clara would dance with their new dolls – though it was only Clara who had the Nutcracker. His eyes darted back and forth between the Xion and Aqua as they graced the stage, with Aqua front and center and Xion taking baby steps in the crowd of other girls. Riku sighed, closing his eyes again. The girls were both equally talented—

Then he heard screams. Riku opened his eyes as the music stopped and he saw Xion and another girl tangled together on the floor.

"XION SATSUJIN!" The teacher shouted, infuriated. She stomped over to Xion, and waited until she stood up before yelling in her face. "For the last time, the steps are balancè, balancè, frappè, glissade, chassè, arabesque, exit! THERE IS NOT ANOTHER BALANCÉ!"

Xion trembled and mumbled something under her breath. The teacher replied, "Apology accepted. Now if only I could train you to be as good as your sister… From the top, girls!"

Riku saw Aqua go over to her sister and hug her, whispering something in her ear. Xion nodded and retook her spot on the dance floor, and when Riku looked closely, he could see that she was crying.

* * *

><p><em>~Tuesday, November 1<em>_st__, 11 months before Xion's death –Riku's car, 8: 25 p.m.~_

"C'mon, Xion. It's okay…"

"No, it's not okay!" Xion said, sitting in the passenger seat with her arms crossed over her chest. "Stupid, stupid me…"

"You're not stupid. You just messed up," Riku reassured. "Everybody makes mistakes."

"Well, Madame says there's no room for mistakes. And then Aqua, little Miss High and Mighty, came over and told me I did my best. Yeah right. She just said that to make me feel good. But I know she doesn't believe it, she thinks I'm horrible, and so do I!" Then she burst into a fit of tears. Riku tried to reach over the seat and hug her, but she only pushed him away; Riku respected her decision.

After a while the crying subsided and Riku heard Xion shift her position to face him. He looked at her and could barely get her name out his mouth before she had climbed across the seat and forced her lips on his, pressing him against the car door window and entwining her fingers in his long hair. Riku at first tensed but then he relaxed into the kiss. It was his first, and he didn't know exactly what to do. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer despite how sweaty she was from practice. For his first kiss, it felt right to share it with Xion. He would never have it any other way. She snaked her tongue into his mouth and he moaned, breathing in all the smells of her, drinking in how she felt against him, taking in everything than made her Xion. In an instant, he realized he had powerful emotions for this girl – and he was ninety-nine percent sure it was love. After being together for the rest of the previous summer and throughout the school year, always going over to each other's houses and sharing ice-cream together, what else could it be? More than simple attraction, he was sure.

They kissed for a long time, the two only stopping to breathe before pressing up against each other again, lips upon lips and two becoming one. Finally Xion was the one who relented, bringing her mouth away from Riku's and resting her head on his chest. Riku looked down at her. She was so fragile and tender, with her short black hair falling in her eyes. Yes, this was the face he would never get tired of seeing.

"Riku…?" Xion asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"I need you… to promise me something."

Riku swallowed, hoping he wasn't making a huge commitment. "What would that be?"

"Promise to never leave me. Promise to always stay by my side. Okay? Because…" Her gaze turned sad. "I really need you."

She held her pinky up to him. Riku didn't want to stop and think, he wanted to say yes, he would, and get it over with. _Everything has a consequence._ Riku had a feeling this promise he made was going to come back and bite him… and if it did, he wasn't going to let it hang on. _I won't break this promise._

As Riku locked pinkies with Xion, she smiled the prettiest smile he had ever seen her give to him.

"Thank you… Riku."

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are appreciated!<strong>

**~Anais**


	5. A Rough Night

**Welcome to chapter 4 - aka the first chapter that (might) have you on the edge of your seat. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><em>~Thursday, March 8<em>_th__, a sidewalk, 3:10 p.m.~_

"I mean, it just doesn't make any sense! If you do the quadratic formula and the discriminant comes out negative, how in the world does that not have an answer?" Shiki crossed her arms as she and Riku walked home together, going on and on about the oddities of algebra.

"It's because the number would be imaginary," Riku replied absentmindedly. He had only agreed to walk with Shiki just because she had begged and pleaded, but now he regretted it. His mind kept wandering back to Sora and Roxas.

"Imaginary? _What?_" Shiki exclaimed, gasping, pushing her hair out of her face as the wind picked up. "Now that _really_ doesn't make any sense!"

As she kept on rambling, Riku let his thoughts stray away from the conversation. Things weren't any worse with Roxas over the past couple days, but, according to Sora and what he had seen going on at home, things weren't any better either. The brunette had told Riku that Roxas was still keeping him at an icy distance, and he was just about fed up with it. Riku sighed. He was going to have to really work with Sora if they were going to get _anywhere_ with Roxas. Riku was just glad nothing 'strange' had happened, as Roxas put it – maybe the blonde was actually trying to fight Xion's control, and thus keeping himself in check…

"… but no, even if you divide by two… are you listening, Riku?"

"What?" Riku glanced over at Shiki and the redhead rolled her eyes, squeezing Mr. Mew tighter.

"You're hopeless, Knight-sama! Come on, let's just hurry up and get home."

Riku nodded, still barely hearing the words she said, barely registering the cool spring air tugging his hair across his face. _Why am I so anxious? I feel like something horrible is going to happen… sure, I have extra sensory perception, but the feeling of… wrongness has never been this strong before…_

_Sora, Roxas… both of you. Hold on just a little longer._

* * *

><p><em>~Thursday, March 8<em>_th__, Riku's room, 11:30 p.m.~_

Riku pressed his fingers to his temples and tried to get to sleep. He had been enduring the worst headache for the past couple of hours, and every second he laid in bed was starting to blur together as he faded in and out of consciousness. Something – someone – was keeping him up; he didn't know who or what. There was a new energy floating throughout the room, and there was so much of it that Riku couldn't take it. He put his pillow over his head, submerging in the darkness and the pain started to lessen. For once he wasn't in control of his situation. He had felt this feeling before, he just couldn't remember when.

Finally he slipped back into unconsciousness again, his thoughts still violent and seizing his mind.

* * *

><p><em>~Friday, March 9<em>_th__, Riku's room, 2:07 a.m.~_

His cellphone rang.

Riku groaned, reaching out a hand to grab his phone off the nightstand in the darkness. Blearily, he pushed up off his stomach, letting the weight rest on his elbows as he checked the caller ID. It flashed brightly in his eyes, and he had to squint to read the words. It read, _Roxas Hikari_.

His heart beating just a little bit faster, Riku flipped open his phone and held the warm receiver to his ear. "Hello?" he mumbled, sleepily.

"Riku." Came Roxas's voice.

"Hm?"

"I'm standing over Sora's bed."

"And…?"

"I have a knife in my hand."

That woke Riku up. He sat up fully and turned on his light, illuminating the small, dim space of his bedroom. He rubbed his eyes and started talking. "Roxas," he said as calm as he could.

"What."

"Put the knife down. Slowly."

He heard a thump, signaling the knife's contact with the carpet. "Yeah?"

"Go out Sora's room and back to yours."

"But—"

"_Go._"

He heard shuffling and mumbling from Roxas before what Riku presumed to be his door slammed. "Now what." Roxas added with no infliction in his voice.

"Lock the door and put a dresser in front of it." Riku rattled off. He was glad he'd done this before, with other twins once or twice, lest he'd be having a panic attack. He heard the scrape of wood upon wood before the noise came to a halt and all he could hear was Roxas's breathing in his ear. It creeped him out.

"Roxas?" He asked, his voice almost a whisper.

"I'm here."

"You okay?"

"I guess." He heard Roxas flop on his bed and clear his throat. "I don't even know how I got into Sora's room… I went to bed and the next time I was aware of things, I was there, poised to kill him, feel his blood running down my hands... ha…ha…"

Riku swore. Maybe Roxas wasn't fighting Xion as hard as he should. "What would you have done if you had killed Sora?"

"Nothing, I guess. He deserves to die." Roxas grunted, Riku hearing him throw something across the room with a crash.

"Roxas, calm down—"

"Calm down?" Roxas started laughing, a bit insanely. "You want me to _calm down?_ Yeah, right! I have no idea what's happening to me… I can't trust anybody anymore… especially not Sora," he mumbled an obscenity against Sora under his breath, "after everything he's done… to me… and Naminé…"

Riku got up and started pacing; it helped him think. Xion was really taking things to drastic measures if Roxas was this demented after only nine days. "Roxas, whatever you think Sora's done probably isn't true…"

"It is… I know it…" Roxas whispered, and Riku could hear the boy crying on the other end. "I'm scared, Riku. I think I'm going crazy."

_If only you knew._ "But you're safe in your room now. You won't be able to do anything insane if you're locked in." Riku could only hope, because Xion had a way of getting around obstacles. He sat down again, flopping out onto the bed. He'd saved Sora from Roxas— for now anyway.

"You're right… yeah… I'm locked in… so I can't get out… haha!"

"Yeah." Riku replied. "Now… just chill for the rest of the night. Thank you for calling me."

"No… thank you, Riku." With that, Roxas clicked off, and Riku dropped the phone on the floor behind him.

Now he _really _couldn't sleep.

* * *

><p><em>~Friday, March 9<em>_th__ , Riku's room, 3:09 a.m.~_

Riku was just getting to sleep again when the phone rang, shrill and loud in his ear. He swore and grabbed his phone from the floor, eye widening when he saw the caller ID. Sora Hikari. He put the phone to his ear immediately. "Sora?"

"R-Riku?" Sora's voice was shaking and cracked as if he had been crying, and the volume was only a whisper. "Oh my goodness, thank you."

"What happened?" Riku demanded seriously, sitting up and hugging his pillow around himself as he held the phone to his ear with his shoulder.

"Roxas… he… I think I'm going to be sick…" Sora said as way of reply. Riku heard his swallow before he continued. "I was just in my bed, sleeping, right? So then I heard the door open and I saw Roxas come in. And then I was like, 'Hey, bro, you finally came around, huh?'. But he just stared at me, and his eyes were just so black… like I couldn't see Roxas inside them. He still had that necklace on." Sora's voice became even lower, so much so that Riku had to strain to hear. "He was all like, 'Come dance with me, Sora,' and it was so creepy, and then he started walking toward me, and I was like… petrified. I couldn't move. He pulled out… a knife…" Sora started breathing loudly, his voice raising an octave. "He started cutting my arms, whispering how much he hated me, how I was a liability, how he was going to kill me, to rip out my intestines and… there was so much evil in that room, and that necklace was shining so bright, but I finally found the strength to get up and run away. I could hear him laughing like a madman even as I ran."

"Sora…" Riku sighed, unfazed. Xion had done it again.

"Riku, I can't do this anymore. I can't stay here. I can't. I'll go crazy if I do… there's still blood on my hands, Riku… Roxas is gonna kill me, he's gonna—"

"Calm down." Riku said to get him to be quiet. Inside his mind, he was formulating a plan. If Sora was so scared that he couldn't stay with Roxas, he might be able to stay with Riku. It would be efficient in keeping Roxas and Xion at bay, and Sora would feel a little safer – and maybe he could convince Sora of just what was going on with his twin. "Do… do you wanna stay at my house?"

"You… would really let me…? Yes. Yes, one-hundred percent yes. At least until Roxas's crazy phase blows over." Sora said quickly. "I can go get my stuff right now, I'll tell my parents—"

"Now hold on a sec. Can you wait it out until we get to school tomorrow?" Sora's parents would freak if they found their son missing in the morning, and only Riku could really think of the most convincing lie to tell the Hikari twins' parents without revealing too much.

Sora whimpered. "I'm sleeping in the basement."

"Whatever makes you happy." Riku chuckled. "See ya, Sora."

"See ya."

Riku hung up first, burrowing under the covers and flipping off the light all in one motion. Just because he had lived for a long time didn't mean that he was able to run on five hours of sleep. He just hoped there were no more surprises until he was supposed to wake up at six twenty-seven. Please _don't let there be any surprises, _he thought. Now that he was helping both Sora and Roxas at the same time, he was sure his efforts of hoping were futile. Xion was getting on his nerves. This time, without a doubt, he was beating her. So he wouldn't have a night like this ever again.

* * *

><p><em>~Friday, March 9<em>_th__, Riku's room, 6:27 a.m.~_

Riku awoke to the sun on his face, warm and streaming, washing away whatever remained of the creepy night. He had made it to the morning, and he couldn't have been happier. He was just brushing his hair out of his face and sitting up when his headache came back full force again. He cried out and clutched at his temples, putting his head between his knees, feeling like the world was exploding inside his mind. _Just let this freaking pain STOPSTOPSTOP._

And then it was gone. Just like that.

Riku sat up in confusion, looking around his room, when he caught a faint glimmer at the edge of his bed. Then he realized. A spirit was trying to break through to the earth plane. That must have been what caused his headache last night and this morning. The air shimmered more vibrantly, rippling like the waves on the water, but then a girl's body began to form from the air. At first she was transparent, but she soon became more solid, stretching her limbs as she landed, her blue sandals on the floor. Riku's gaze traveled up, across the short pristine white dress she wore and her pale skin, her blond hair that fell across her shoulders. And when she smiled at him and her blue eyes locked on his, Riku's eyes widened in shock.

"… Naminé?"

The dead girl giggled. "Hello, Riku."

* * *

><p><strong>Well wasn't that a surprise? This may or may not be my last update for a couple weeks, mostly because I haven't figured out the next past chapter completely yet... Anyway!<strong>

**Reviews are appreciated!**

**~Anais**


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